Friendships Held Through Time
by IwaKitsune
Summary: Sort of continuation to 'Frozen, Forsaken'. The final good-bye between two unlikely friends; friendships really come from the most unexpected of places, won't you agree? One-shot.


A plot bunny I couldn't bring myself to ignore. Haha, why am I writing at 1 am? Well... I really wanted to write something like this, wanted to explore relationships between characters~ Ah, I think I got them a bit OoC though...

But anyway, enjoy and please correct me if you find mistakes with the descriptions or grammar!

_Disclaimer:_ I own nothing but the writing.

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><p><strong>Friendships Held Through Time<strong>

"What was that?"

"Humm?" Makar turned in time to spot Link looking down a hall on the other side of the large pit, eyes squinting lightly in concentration and maybe a bit of paranoia. "What was what, mister Link?"

The blonde shook his head, sighing and turning back to pick up the Korok. "Nothing just... my imagination I guess. Something like a shadow..."

"Maybe it was an enemy?" Voiced Makar, perched on top of Link's head, chiming lightly with every move the other made while moving toward a platform. That didn't help the blonde's paranoia at all and instead he hummed uneasily; he hadn't felt really threatened though.

"I guess we'll find out later... but now I need you to get there, think you can fly up there?" He changed the topic, putting the Korok back on the floor and pointing another hall above them, too far to reach by jumping and with no ladder in sight.

"Of course!" Chimed the small tree-like creature before pulling out his Deku leaves and propelling himself upward, landing on the rocky floor ahead with another small, high-pitched noise. He waited for the other to get up there with his own Deku leaf and a gust of wind from the gigantic fan far below them on the pit.

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><p>The shadow saw them too, however, he didn't even try to follow the other two as they made their way around the Wind Temple, trying to find the keys needed to open all the doors blocking their way, and maybe even a item that could help them along in their way.<p>

Instead, it sank through the darkness again, soundlessly making his way across the confusing temple, merrily skipping all the traps and monsters that the 'hero' would have to face to get where he was going. A main chamber.

He lifted from the shadows, whichever little they were in the enormous, sand covered chamber. His red eyes looked around in distaste at the brightness of the room, caused by the sand reflecting the light coming from above. He never really understood how the light entered that place, but he never bothered asking either.

Taking a step forward, the dark-clothed boy, seemly identical in appearance as the green-clad hero, watched the sand with emotionless eyes. He jumped, rolling on the sand to break the impact and then dusted himself off, walking toward the dark stone circle with a symbol on the middle. A mark he knew all too well.

But before he could even place a foot on it, a small flash of light in the form of a sphere, similar to the glow the fairies used to have, appeared in front of him, making him take a step back. The small sphere grew in size and soon enough the glow faded and in front of him stood a boy.

The boy, blonde and garbed in green like the hero, even when his hair had a lightly greener tone and his clothes had adorning red marks on the front, swirls near his sleeve and squares and triangles forming a symbol under his belt. His eyes stayed closed but the red-eyed boy knew he was looking at him.

"Don't dare step forward, for then you'll awake the monster's rage." The blond said, voice echoing and not due to the empty, wide chamber they stood in.

"Nice to see you too, Kokiri boy." The dark-clothed male chuckled lowly, his grin widening.

"Ah, but if it ain't the Hero's shadow!" The Kokiri broke into a grin, hands resting on his hips.

"You know very well I hate that title, Sage." Growled the red-eyed 'shadow' lowly, glaring and crossing his arms.

The blonde suddenly started laughing, his echoing voice sounding all too cheerful, his grin spreading wider and causing a similar one to appear on the seemly insulted other. "Been a long time! I almost didn't recognize you, you've changed, Dark!"

"You know I change shape to match the Hero, seeing as I'm their 'shadow' slash 'dark side'." Dark droned, raising his hands and making the quote signs with his fingers as the other continued laughing quietly. "I see you changed too, and not for the better..."

That extracted a deep frown from the Kokiri, who looked down to the sandy floor and his semi-transparent hands and huffed. His face rose again and the dark-clad boy saw his expression turn into a sad smile. "I can't say I like it any better. It happened such a long time ago..."

"Not as long as the time I was trapped, Fado." Dark informed him, expression sullen. "Thing have changed, it seems."

"Yeah."

Without uttering another word, the dark-clad male turned and walked through the sand, going on the opposite direction of the stone stand in which the Sage of the Wind once prayed, his spirit following him quietly.

"I still don't get why you act like this." His voice broke the silence and Fado arched a brow, looking at him with evident curiosity.

"What do you mean?"

"You treat me like a friend, even if I was an enemy- perhaps not directly yours but still one."

At that, Fado smirked again. "Oh, that! Well you see, when one is trapped in such a place for all their life they have to make due with anything they can get!" The response was a death glare and a swat against his arm, passing through him harmlessly. Dark hissed at him as he cackled. "Alright, alright! Just kidding! Ah, I forgot how fun it was to poke you." He stopped again, smile in place as the other's eyes calmed from anger to light grudge. "It's more like...

"Yeah, you were an enemy, but that's the past. When you came here I thought you were going to attack me, but then you looked just as lost as I did. You stayed here for as long as you wanted, making me company during long, boring days I couldn't do much more than wander around the temple and pray- it was my job but it was so calm back then... I still don't get it, though. Why did you stay here?"

At the question, Dark turned away from the spirit and unsheathed his sword, the metal glimmering on the light. He looked at it for a moment in a stance Fado recognized as his 'thinking pose' and when he finally spoke his tone was a slow, controlled whisper. "Because."

It was the Sage's turn to swat uselessly at him, a small pout forming. "Hey! We're going sentimental and remembering the time gone by, at least you could collaborate with your side, you know?"

Dark grinned, digging the sword's tip on the sand and leaning on it. "Oh, really then? You want my side of the story?"

"Don't make me leave you talking to yourself."

"As if I haven't done that before... or you for that matter."

"Just talk already." Fado huffed lightly, crossing his arms.

"If you need to know, your situation reminded me of mine." At the arched brow, the shadow explained further. "Trapped in a temple for as long as your mission needed completion. Check. Only companions being the monsters inside said temple. Check. Not having much to do with too much free time other than preparing for what you were forced to wait for and wandering the halls of a place you could go through asleep. Check. Shall I make the list longer?"

Fado nodded in understanding. "I see your point... but that doesn't explain why you did it."

Dark shrugged. "I was bored, you were bored, neither of us had anything better to do other than waiting for the Hero or the Dark Lord to reappear and contact us, for good or for bad. Besides, isolation sucks, period."

The Sage had to agree with the Shadow on that.

"Ah well, I appreciated the company, as much as I decided to do this on my own... well, can't say being alone is a lot of fun. Still wouldn't change my decision."

"You've told me so. 'I wouldn't change my choice, because I want to be useful for the Hero and in turn for all living things.' Or something like that..."

Fado nodded, smirk in place. "So, Dark, enough of that! You said you were trapped?"

The shadow grimaced, digging his sword deeper in the sand. "Yeah. Let's say I don't like ice all that much right now."

"Ice?" He shuddered at the thought. "Can't say I appreciate the cold either, good this place is mostly warm... at least on the day, the nights are kinda chilly. But cold all day, every day? No thank you."

"Someone that understands!" Gasped Dark in half-mocked joy, raising a hand to cover his mouth in an oh-so-fake shocked gesture. "The boy of the forest dislikes ice? Unbelievable!"

"Oh shut up, I'm trying to be nice here!" Both boys started laughing, their voices drifting through the area around them and slowly fading into comfortable silence.

"...You know, I missed you, it was boring to be all alone." Mumbled the dark-clad male, smirking ever so lightly and retracting the sword from the sand and back to its place between his shield and back. "Not to mention I prefer this place much more than the smallest icy domain I have ever seen."

"Can't say I enjoyed being here on my own for long, even after death." Replied the green-clad boy, arms behind his head. "I won't leave this place until the next Sage of the Wind comes and takes my place, even if I can't do much in this... form."

"You mean that tree-thing? The… Korok, Makar, I think it's called?"

"Yep. After he and the new Hero come here and defeat the monster that made its home in my sanctuary, I'll be able to leave this world and start anew."

"In other words, this is our last conversation."

The words were left unanswered, floating on the air as it grew tense and uncomfortable. It was broken by a small, yet unafraid voice.

"I believe so."

Dark simply sighed, shoulders slumping in defeat. "Should've seen that coming."

"I can't say I don't want this, Dark." Soothed the other with a sad smile. "But I can't deny I'll miss messing with you. You sure you-"

"No, Fado, I won't go with you." He sighed, closing his eyes. "I can't. I'm forced to stay as the Hero's shadow until he kills me or my mission is accomplished."

"Your mission was to stall him and defeat him in the Water Temple. That was much too long ago."

"That's not my current mission."

Arched brow, small wondering sound. "What do you mean?"

Smirk, small but still there. "I've chosen a new mission, my friend."

"May I ask?"

"I'm gonna follow and make sure this new Hero survives at least, and gets to the Dark Lord. Someone needs to make sure he knows the other side of the story. Not just that damned boat's side."

"You're speaking in gibberish, explain yourself to this poor, outdated fellow?"

"The Hero, named just like the Hero long gone, has been following the orders from a red boat whose voice we all know all too well. It took me a while to actually remember the owner but well, I didn't expect that old fat man to end up as a talking boat."

The Sage jumped, startled. "He? He's the one guiding the hero?"

Dark nodded. "Sadly. I couldn't believe it either."

"I... I don't agree in the least with what that fat pig known as the Dark Lord has done, but what that man, or boat, did was... "

"Both have done unforgivable things, but they had reasons. One of them had good reasons that were twisted with lust for power, the other had bad reasons strengthen with the power he already had. Both of them ruined the land, but only one of them was responsible of turning this place into a water graveyard."

Fado frowned, looking away. "I can't forgive what the Dark Lord did, but I should stand by the King's sid-"

"No, you should stand by the Hero's side." He shook his head, looking at him carefully. "The Hero stood on the side everyone deemed as good, until an unfair, hateful leader was allowed on the top and basically made everything go on a swan dive to hell."

"What a way to put it..."

"I'm original. I know." Both of them smirked.

"What about you, you stand on the side everyone thinks as bad."

"Have I ever cared for that? I won't forgive him either but..."

"But?"

"I can see his side now. Sure, he used me and others and then left us there to die after we failed. But his original reason was... relatable."

"I guess it's true. Everyone has a little of good and bad inside them."

"Couldn't have said it better, friend." Dark grinned before both of them perked up as they heard a sound on the hall outside the chamber. He grimaced and the other stared with a mix of excitement, fear and sadness. "Guess this is the final good-bye?"

"Seems so..."

"... I have a feeling we sound like a drama." Fado had to bite back his tongue in order to avoid laughing and alerting the two outside of their presence.

"Can't agree more but in all seriousness..." He raised his hand in the air and the shadow copied his move. "Gonna miss you."

"You won't miss me much, you'll go back to your friends or revive or something. I'm gonna be all alone~"

"Don't be melodramatic, that's not a good last impression!"

They chuckled lowly before smiling and giving each other a last high-five. A moment later they clasped the other's hand down into a hand-shake, Dark's hand half-way into the Dark Realm in order to grasp the neither solid hand of the other.

"See you next life-time?"

"Will be waiting! Good luck, friend, hero's shadow, Dark."

"You better be. See you when the time is right, Sage of the Wind, Kokiri Fado."

With that, they shared one last genuine smile and tightened their grip before Dark vanished into the shadows and Fado disappeared in thin air just as Link opened the door to the chamber for the battle.

He swore he saw a shadow moving on the corner of his eye and, strangely enough, he felt the smallest bit of security with the dark presence. Perhaps it was a friend? He would know when the time was right but now-

He jumped to the sand below, rolling to break his fall and slowly made his way to the dark stone platform on the middle of the chamber, a Triforce engraved on the surface.

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><p>In my headcanon, Fado and Dark somehow managed to become friends until one was killed and the other sealed away, pretty much that's what this fic is about? There seriously should be more fics with Fado, anyway.<p>

And I'm one of the handful that doesn't trust/like the King of Red Lion, that may be noticeable here.


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